Epidemiology, Clinical Features and Antifungal Resistance Profile of Candida auris in Africa: Systematic Review

Candida auris since it discovery in 2009 is becoming a severe threat to human health due to its very quickly spread, its worldwide high resistance to systemic antifungal drugs. In resource-constrained settings where several conditions are met for its emergence and spread, this worrisome fungus could cause large hospital and/or community-based outbreaks. This review aimed to summarize the available data on C. auris in Africa focusing on its epidemiology and antifungal resistance profile. Major databases were searched for articles on the epidemiology and antifungal resistance profile of C. auris in Africa. Out of 2,521 articles identified 22 met the inclusion criteria. In Africa, nearly 89% of African countries have no published data on C. auris. The prevalence of C. auris in Africa was 8.74%. The case fatality rate of C. auris infection in Africa was 39.46%. The main C. auris risk factors reported in Africa were cardiovascular disease, renal failure, diabetes, HIV, recent intake of antimicrobial drugs, ICU admissions, surgery, hemodialysis, parenteral nutrition and indwelling devices. Four phylogenetic clades were reported in Africa, namely clades I, II, III and IV. Candida auris showed a pan-African very high resistance rate to fluconazole, moderate resistance to amphotericin B, and high susceptibility to echinocandins. Finally, C. auris clade-specific mutations were observed within the ERG2, ERG3, ERG9, ERG11, FKS1, TAC1b and MRR1 genes in Africa. This systematic review showed the presence of C. auris in the African continent and a worrying unavailability of data on this resilient fungus in most African countries.

Effect of Changing Anion on the Crystalline Structure, Crystal Structure, Hirschfield Surface, IR and NMR Spectroscopy of Organic Salts and Hybrid Compounds: C6H4(NH3)2Cl2 (I), β-[C6H10N2]2ZnCl4 (II), Respectively

Two organic-inorganic hybrid materials, C6H4(NH3)2∙Cl2 (I) and β-[C6H10N2]2ZnCl4 (II), have been synthesized by hydrothermal method. These two materials are one of the hybrid materials have emerged as one of the most brilliant components classes. These extraordinary compounds synergistically combine the desired physical properties of both organic and inorganic components into a single compound offering the possibility to achieve great improvement over time in terms of science across various sectors. Their structures were determined by XRD pattern investigations and single crystal X-ray diffraction. These two compounds are crystallized in the monoclinic system;C2/c space group. In the both structures, the anionic-cationic entities are interconnected by hydrogen bonding contacts and p-p Interaction forming three-dimensional networks. Intermolecular interactions were investigated by Hirshfeld surfaces and the contacts of the four different chloride atoms in (II) were compared. The vibrational absorption bands were identified by infrared spectroscopy. These compounds were also investigated by solid state13C NMR spectroscopy.

Kernel principal component analysis network for image classification

In order to classify nonlinear features with a linear classifier and improve the classification accuracy, a deep learning network named kernel principal component analysis network（ KPCANet） is proposed. First, the data is mapped into a higher-dimensional space with kernel principal component analysis to make the data linearly separable. Then a two-layer KPCANet is built to obtain the principal components of the image. Finally, the principal components are classified with a linear classifier. Experimental results showthat the proposed KPCANet is effective in face recognition, object recognition and handwritten digit recognition. It also outperforms principal component analysis network（ PCANet） generally. Besides, KPCANet is invariant to illumination and stable to occlusion and slight deformation.

L_1-norm minimization for quaternion signals

An algorithm for recovering the quaternion signals in both noiseless and noise contaminated scenarios by solving an L1-norm minimization problem is presented. The L1-norm minimization problem over the quaternion number field is solved by converting it to an equivalent second-order cone programming problem over the real number field, which can be readily solved by convex optimization solvers like SeDuMi. Numerical experiments are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. In a noiseless scenario, the experimental results show that under some practically acceptable conditions, exact signal recovery can be achieved. With additive noise contamination in measurements, the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is robust to noise. The proposed algorithm can be applied in compressed-sensing-based signal recovery in the quaternion domain.

Dimensions of hepatocellular carcinoma phenotypic diversity

Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) is the 3^(rd) leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. More than 80% of HCCs arise within chronic liver disease resulting from viral hepatitis, alcohol, hemochromatosis, obesity and metabolic syndrome or genotoxins. Projections based on Western lifestyle and its metabolic consequences anticipate a further increase in incidence, despite recent breakthroughs in the management of viral hepatitis. HCCs display high heterogeneity of molecular phenotypes, which challenges clinical management. However, emerging molecular classifications of HCCs have not yet formed a unified corpus translatable to the clinical practice. Thus, patient management is currently based upon tumor number, size, vascular invasion, performance status and functional liver reserve. Nonetheless, an impressive body of molecular evidence emerged within the last 20 years and is becoming increasingly available to medical practitioners and researchers in the form of repositories. Therefore, the aim this work is to review molecular data underlying HCC classifications and to organize this corpus into the major dimensions explaining HCC phenotypic diversity. Major efforts have been recently made worldwide toward a unifying "clinically-friendly" molecular landscape. As a result, a consensus emerges on three major dimensions explaining the HCC heterogeneity. In the first dimension, tumor cell proliferation and differentiation enabled allocation of HCCs to two major classes presenting profoundly different clinical aggressiveness. In the second dimension, HCC microenvironment and tumor immunity underlie recent therapeutic breakthroughs prolonging patients' survival. In the third dimension,metabolic reprogramming, with the recent emergence of subclass-specific metabolic profiles, may lead to adaptive and combined therapeutic approaches. Therefore, here we review recent molecular evidence, their impact on tumor histopathological features and clinical behavior and highlight the remaining challenges to translate our cognitive corpus into patient diagnosis and allocation to therapeutic options.

Prokineticin 2/Bv8 is expressed in Kupffer cells in liver and is down regulated in human hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM： TO study the implication of prokineticin 1 （PKI/EGVEGF） and prokineticin 2 （PK2/13v8） in hepatocellular carcinoma angiogenesis.METHODS： The gene induction of PK1/EG-VEGF and PK2/Bv8 was investigated in 10 normal, 28 fibrotic and 28 tumoral livers by using real time PCR. Their expression was compared to the expression of VEGF （an angiogenesis marker）, vWF （an endothelial cell marker） and to CD68 （a monocyte/macrophage marker）. Furthermore, the rnRNA levels of PK1/EG-VEGF, PK2/Bv8, prokineticin receptor 1 and 2 were evaluated by real time PCR in isolated liver cell populations. Finally, PK2/Bv8 protein was detected in normal liver paraffin sections and in isolated liver cells by immunohistochernistry and immunocytochemistry.RESULTS： PK2/Bv8 mRNA but not PK1/EG-VEGF was expressed in all types of normal liver samples examined. In the context of liver tumor development, we reported that PK2/13v8 correlates only with CD68 and showed a significant decrease in expression as the pathology evolves towards cancer. Whereas, VEGF and vWF mRNA were significantly upregulated in both fibrosis and HCC,as expected. In addition, out of all isolated liver cells examined, only Kupffer cells （liver resident macrophages） express significant levels of PK2/Bv8 and its receptors, prokineticin receptor 1 and 2.CONCLUSION： In normal liver PK2/Bv8 and its receptors were specifically expressed by Kupffer cells. PK2/Bv8 expression decreased as the liver evolves towards cancer and did not correlate with HCC angiogenesis.

High Efficiency Infrared-to-Visible Upconversion Emission in Er^3＋,Yb^3＋, and Ho^3＋ Codoped Tellurite Glasses

A novel method of codoping the Er^3＋, Yb^3＋, and Ho^3＋ ions in tellurite glasses is demonstrated to obtain a high efficiency of infrared-to-visible upconversion. Three intense emission bands observed in Er^3＋, Yb^3＋, and Ho^3＋ codoped tellurite glasses centred at 525, 547, and 657nm correspond to Er^3＋： ^2H11/2 -4 ^4I15/2, Er^3＋： ^4S3/2 →^4I15/2＋Ho^3＋： ^5S2（^5F4） → ^5Is, and Er^3＋： ^4Sa/2 → ^4I15/2＋Ho^3＋： ^5F5 → ^5Is transitions, respectively. No visible upconversion quenching phenomenon is observed when three rare-earth ions are codoped together in tellurite glasses. In contrast, the upconversion intensity of red and green emissions in Er^3＋, Yb^3＋, and Ho^3＋ codoped glasses is enhanced largely when compared with Er^3＋ /Yb^3＋-codoped glasses. The dependence of upconversion intensities on excitation power and the possible upconversion mechanisms are evaluated. The three emissions are based on two-photon absorption processes.

小粉虫各发育期的临界热极值和失水的研究(英文)

本文研究了升高环境温度对小粉虫(Alphitobiusdiaperinus,鞘翅目拟步行虫总科)末龄幼虫、蛹以及成虫的失水和热敏性(临界热极值,Criticalthermalmaximum,CTmax)的影响。小粉虫成虫和蛹的CTmax值显著低于末龄幼虫(末龄幼虫:CTmax=48.5±0.5℃;蛹:CTmax=48.0±0.9℃;成虫:CTmax=47.8±1.1℃)。此外,成虫的适应性对其CTmax没有显著的影响。在20至60℃连续记录失水值中,三个龄期之间存在显著差异。随着超过临界点温度(约为40℃)的快速升高,末龄幼虫与成虫的失水程度相近。蛹具有明显低的失水速率,即使在温度高于40℃的情况下。当温度升高10℃时(25-35℃),会造成小粉虫蛹和成虫失水增加2.0倍和2.6倍,分别为:Q10=2.05±0.70和2.49±1.31,而幼虫则为3.52±1.27。当高于35-45℃时,幼虫和成虫失水增加甚快(Q10=6.85±1.90和8.51±2.32)。而蛹在高于35-45℃时失水也增加(Q10=3.76±1.83),但低于幼虫和成虫。小粉虫的蛹处于静止和不取食状态,代谢速率较低,其具有特殊结构的气孔能较好地保持关闭状态,且蛹的表皮由脂肪和蛋白质组成。

Influence of B_2O_3 on Spectroscopic Properties of Er^(3+)/Yb^(3+) Co-Doped Tungsten-Tellurite Glasses

A series of novel Er^3＋/Yb^3＋ co-doped （85- x ） TeO2-15WO3-xB2O3 （TWB;x=2%,5%,8%（mole fraction） ） glasses were prepared. Influence of B203 on the spectroscopic properties of Er^3＋/Yb^3＋ co-doped tungsten-tellurite glasses were investigated. It is found that the intensity of 1.5μm fluorescence, lifetime of the ^4I13/2 level and upconversion fluorescence all decrease with the increase of B2O3 content. The product of full width at half maximum （FWHM） and stimulated emission cross-section （σe^peak） of Er^3＋ ：^4I13/2→^4I15/2 transition has an optimum when B203 is 5% （mole fraction）. The emission spectra of Er^3＋ ： ^4I13/2→^4I15/2 transition was analyzed using peak-fit routine, and an equivalent four-level system was proposed to estimate the stark splitting for the 411512 and ^4I13/2 levels of Er^3＋ ions in TWB glasses at room temperature.

Epitaxial Growth of Gd_(0.67)Ca_(0.33)MnO_3 Thin Films by Laser Ablation

Gd_(0.67)Ca_(0.33)MnO_3(GCMO)thin films grown by laser ablation on SrTiO_3(100)(STO)substrates was studied. Films are highly crystallized, very well epitaxial and single-phased. The ordering magnetic temperature(T_c)of the films is much higher than the value of bulk samples of similar composition. It is found that the GCMO film exhibits a reversal of its magnetization at low temperature when cooled under a magnetic field. The negative magnetization is a consequence of the rapid increase(～1/T)with decreasing temperature of the magnetization of a sublattice aligned antiparallel to the local field, relative to the magnetic contribution of a second sublattice which is aligned parallel to the applied field.

Modelling Uncertainty of Stream Networks Derived from Elevation Data Using Two Free Softwares: R and SAGA

Stream networks are considered important units in many environmental decision making processes. The extraction of streams using digital elevation models (DEMs) presents many advantages. However it is very sensitive to the uncertainty of the elevation datasets used. The main aim of this paper is to implement geostatistical simulations and assess the propagated uncertainty and map the error of location streams. First, point sampled elevations are used to fit a variogram model. Next two hundred DEM realizations are generated using conditional sequential Gaussian simulation;the stream network map is extracted for each of these realizations, and the collection of stream networks is analyzed to quantify the error propagation. At each grid cell, the probability of the occurrence of a stream and the propagated error are estimated. The more probable stream network are delineated and compared with the digital stream network derived from topographic map. The method is illustrated using a small dataset (8742 sampled elevations) for Anaguid Saharan platform. All computations are run in two free softwares: R and SAGA. R is used to fit variogram and to run sequential Gaussian simulation. SAGA is used to extract streams via RSAGA library.

Two-Dimension Numerical Simulation of Parabolic Trough Solar Collector: Far North Region of Cameroon

Cameroon lives in the era of great infrastructures in order to reach the economic emergence by 2035. These infrastructures require a solid framework of energy provisions from many natural energy sources and resources that the country possesses. Speaking of natural energy resources, the country is particularly gifted by solar energy potential in the far north. This region of the land is densely populated but much of the populations do not have access to electricity since they live in remote areas far from national electricity grid. Solar thermal energy appears then as real potential to fulfill the growing demand of energy and reduce fossil fuel use dependence. Moreover, it would also be a grandiose opportunity for hospitals in these regions to provide hot water for Sterilization. As the design of a solar thermal plant strongly relies on the potential of direct solar irradiance and the performance of a solar parabolic trough collector (PTC) estimated under the local climate conditions, in this paper, we annually compute direct solar radiation based on monthly average Linke turbidity factor and various tracking modes in two chosen sites in the far north region of Cameroon. Also, a detailed two dimensional numerical heat transfer analysis of a PTC has been performed. The receiver has been divided into many control volumes along his length and each of them is a column consisting of glass, vacuum, absorber and fluid along which mass and energy balance have been applied. Direct solar irradiation, ambient temperature optical and thermal analyses of the collector receiver takes into consideration all modes of heat transfer and the nonlinear algebraic equations were solved simultaneously at each instant during a day of computation using Engineering Equation Solver (EES). To validate the numerical results, the model was compared with experimental data obtained from Sandia National Laboratory (SNL). It has shown a great concordance with a maximum relative error value of 0.35% and thermal efficiency range of systems about 66.67% - 73.2%. It has also been found that the one axis polar East-West and horizontal East-West tracking with 96% and 94% of full tracking mode respectively, were most suitable for a parabolic trough collector throughout the whole year in the two towns considered.

Influence of Synthesis Parameters on the Structure, Pore Morphology and Bioactivity of a New Mesoporous Glass

The main objective of the present work was to investigate the effect of surfactant type and synthesis temperature on the structure, porosity and the bioactivity of 92S6 (92% SiO2, 6% CaO, and 2% P2O5 mol %) mesoporous sol-gel glasses. The aim was to provide a basis for controlling the bioactive behavior of the different 92S6 samples used for tissue regeneration and for biomedical engineering in order to obtain sufficient performances by controlling the porosity of the glass. In this paper, a series of mesoporous bioactive glasses were synthesized using three different surfactants (C10H20BrN, C19H42BrN, C22H48BrN) at different aging temperatures (20°C, 40°C and 60°C). The surfactant was removed by calcination, which was carried out by increasing the temperature to 650°C for 6 h. A comparison among these synthesized glasses was conducted and the research emphasis was placed on the synthesis temperature and the surfactant type dependence on the textural properties and particularly porosity that were ultimately responsible for glass bioactivity.

3-(Tetrazol-5-yl)-2-imino-coumarins Derivatives: Synthesis, Characterization, and Evaluation on Tumor Cell Lines

The first report of new 3-(tetrazol-5-yl)-2-iminocoumarin derivatives is described. The title compounds were prepared in two steps and were obtained in good yields (55-93%). They have been fully characterized by 1H, 13C NMR, FTIR, UV-Visible and HRMS. They were tested for their antiproliferative activities against six representative human tumor cell lines (Huh 7-D12, Caco2, MDA-MB231, HCT 116, PC3 and NCI-H727) and HaCat keratinocytes. Among them, compound 5e was active on HCT 116 (IC50 15 μM).

Synthesis of New 2-Phenylamino-4<i>H</i>-chromene-3-carbonitrile Derivatives and Their Effects on Tumor Cell Lines and against Protein Kinases

The synthesis of 2-phenylimino-4H-chromene-3-carbonitriles 6(a-d) in good overall yields using an efficient and practical methodology in 3 steps has been implemented in this present work. The first step was a heterocyclization between 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde 1 and propanedinitrile 2 which produced 2-iminocoumarin 3 which was submitted to nitrogen/nitrogen displacement in the presence of aromatic primary amine 4. In the third step, reduction of 5 led to the desired 2-phenylimino-4H-chromene-3-carbonitriles 6. Compounds 5(a-d) and 6(a-d) were evaluated for their potential in vitro cytotoxicity against six selected tumor cell lines (Huh7-D12, Caco2, MDA-MB231, HCT 116, PC3 and NCI-H727) and tested for their protein kinase inhibition on eight selected protein kinases. Among them, compounds 5c and 6b exhibited inhibition on HsCK1e (5c: 44% and 6b: 42% at 1 μM) and 5c for cytotoxicity on PC3 cell lines (63% at 25 μM).

Abemaciclib, a Recent Novel FDA-Approved Small Molecule Inhibiting Cyclin-Dependant Kinase 4/6 for the Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Mini-Review

Abemaciclib (Verzerio®) is a cell cycle inhibitor of both CDK4 and CDK6. In 2017, abemaciclib was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and, in 2018 by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2−) advanced breast cancer. In this mini-review, we provide a series of information for respectively their targets and its selectivity, results on preclinical trial, clinical phase I, II and III trials, and some perspectives. We also describe the batch and flow steps used for the synthesis of this cancer drug.

Studies of the Chemical Reactivity of a Series of Rhodanine Derivatives by Approaches to Quantum Chemistry

This theoretical chemical reactivity study was conducted using the Density Functional Theory (DFT) method, at computational level B3LYP/6-31G (d). It involved a series of six (06) 5-arylidene rhodanines and allowed to predict the chemical reactivity of these compounds. DFT global chemical reactivity descriptors (HOMO and LUMO energies, chemical hardness, softness, electronegativity) were examined to predict the relative stability and reactivity of rhodanin derivatives. Thus, the compound 6 which has an energy gap between the orbitals of ΔEgap = 3.004 eV is the most polarizable, the most reactive, the least stable, the best electron donor and the softest molecule. Calculation of the local indices of reactivity as well as dual descriptors revealed that the sulfur heteroatom of the Rhodanine ring is the privileged site of electrophilic attack in a state of sp3 hybridization and privileged site of nucleophilic attack in a state of sp2 hybridization.

Tele-Analytical Characterization of the Eburnean Tectonic Structures within the Birimian Formations of Mako Area, Eastern Senegal

The tectonic structures of the Mako area in the Kédougou-Kéniéba inlier (KKI) were mapped with tele-analytical investigation which is validated by field data. This study is based on different images processing in particular: 1) the colored combinations (1 to 5) and panchromatic (8) thematic mapping bands of the Landsat-8 (ETM+) satellite;2) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) image of Space Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM);3) airborne geophysics (aeromagnetic and radiometric) images. In these images, four major directions of lineaments NS, NNE-SSW, NW-SE and EW would be related to the tectonic structures, have been identified and mapped. Field data confirm these four structural directions and show that most of these lineaments are related to faults, shear and/or thrust zones, or even basic rock dykes. N-S to NE-SW oriented lineaments are more frequent followed by those NW-SE oriented. These two directions of lineaments are generally in correlation with trajectories of major sinistral shear zones in the Mako area. They would be associated with the S2a and S2b schistosities relative to the D2 Eburnean major deformation. They often intersect the E-W oriented lineaments which are less frequent and sometimes folded and crenulated. This E-W oriented lineament would be prior and are associated with the S1 schistosity of the D1 Eburnean thrust phase of deformation. At the scale of the studied area, these major linear structures (shear zones) are conjugated and create a partitioning of deformation through an anastomosed network of mylonitic shear zones which surround weakly deformed rock bodies. All these structures would be related to the Eburnean or post-Eburnean orogenic events in this Mako area.

Skills in Physics and Semiconductor Devices: A Global Challenge for Digital Society

The number of connected objects and therefore of IoT devices that invade our daily lives is growing exponentially. These objects are based on electronics in the form of elementary components, circuits and hybrid and complex integrated systems. Electronics must therefore respond to an exponential growth in the number of circuits, components per circuit, data transmitted, stored and processed in data centers. As a corollary, the energy consumed by operators, servers and users follows the same law of growth. In the coming years, the main challenges will be to slow down these exponential growths by improving the design and architecture of components, circuits and systems for processing and transmitting information. These challenges require the acquisition of skills based on knowledge and know-how and an increase in the pool of future competent and innovative players. This approach is part of the strategy led by the national academic training network which, by pooling the skills of trainers and technological platforms at the French level, aims to meet the needs of companies within the framework of a Recovery Plan for the Electronic Sector. After a presentation of the context and the consequences on the technical challenges, and after several approaches proposed, the actions carried out by the national network of microelectronics are detailed and illustrated with several examples of realizations and results.

Study of Mass Spectra of Some Indole Derivatives

In the work, a study of mass fragmentation routes by the electron-impact mass spectrometry data has been examined for two open chain intermediates of indole derivatives and two pyrroloquinolines. By the isolation of open chain intermediate and the mass spectra, the structures of pyrroloquinoline have been confirmed.